Monday, August 27, 2012

The Return to Togo, or A Long Overdue Post

I am back in Togo and I have been busy.

A summation of my life up to this point-- I got off the plane in Ghana Saturday night. Sunday I tried to use my debit card and forgot my PIN. Monday I was teaching 13 new stagiares how to garden in Togo.  Two weeks later I was trying to leave the south.  10 hours later I succeeded.  Now, two trips to Kara later, I still do not have a new PIN number.

Some things I miss about the States:

drinking fountains
fast wifi
chipotle
my cats
my mom's fried chicken
football
nice roads
washing machines

Some things I do not miss about the States:

A/C
people driving too fast
the news
hot showers
walmart
clothes dryers

I was sitting in a taxi in Lome on the Sunday when we got back to Togo.  I looked around at everyone and suddenly felt comfortable again for the first time in 2 weeks.  Like everything made sense again.  It was weird.

Being a trainer was a lot of fun.  The new Environmental Action and Food Security people are great.  Smart and motivated.  It was good getting to know them and their colleagues in CHAP and EGE.  It fascinates me how Peace Corps brings such a diverse group of people together in a common purpose/ goal.  The Peace Corps puts some of the best and brightest people the US has to offer with some of the best and brightest people that the world has to offer and lets them go change lives.

After two years I got to update my iPod and my music selection.  I did not think too much about this until I was in a bush taxi going north.  Then I realized how tired I had gotten of my old music.

My house was about the same as I had left it.  Nighan and her last kitten, Tadji (it means "do not eat" in Konkumba), were out in the bush.  They came back when I got home.  This happened when I went to Kara last week to try and arrange my bank situation.  Now my neighbors are convinced that I have some kind of sorcery connection with them. 

My garden was in much better shape than when i left it.  my gardening protoge has done his job well.

NTido looks like she is about ready to pop.  I asked her if she was ready for the baby to come and she was like "no, i dont think I am"

I was so tired from training that I slept for 3 days when I got home.  One day during stage I woke up at 615.  Stagiares got there at like 715 so I was on.  Then one of them asked me to lunch.  I got back to the tech house and slept for an hour during their language classes.  Then they came back.  We hung out after classes were over that day.  I could not figure out why I was so tired at the end of the day.  Then I realized that I had been talking to people non-stop from 715 to 1830 with the exception of my nap.

The new road to Kouka seems to be progressing.  The road bed is mostly built up to Manga.  After that though, the remaining 17k to Kouka sucks.  Several people I know have been in fairly serious moto accidents.  One of my friends has to spend 2 months in a full leg cast.

My stage is about to commence its exodus from Togo.  A couple people have already left.  I did not go to their COS conference because I am not leaving.  There will be a lot of good people leaving Togo in the next month and a half. 

I seriously eat my body weight in peanuts a week.

Overall, my trip the US was good.  I got to see some people who I have missed a lot.  I visited D's family in Detroit for a couple of days.  That was really fun.  I ate some good food.  I saw my family, well most of them.  That is always good.

Another football season begins without me . . . .

I had more stuff that I wanted to post but I cannot remember what it was so I will have to post it later. 

 

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